If elections were decided strictly by debate performance, Republican Hung Cao would be Virginia's next U.S. Senator. Following his October 2 debate with Democrat incumbent Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's 2016 VP running mate, a survey by WAVY-TV showed 76-percent of respondents believed Trump endorsed Cao won, compared to only 26-percent for Kaine.
But when it comes to actual polls Kaine maintains a double-digit advantage over Cao, a retired U.S. Navy Captain who immigrated from Vietnam.
Cao shocked debate moderators with a graphic description of the "alpha" men and women he says the military should be recruiting instead of catering to drag queens.
Cao and Kaine could not be more different in terms of name recognition.
Kaine previously served as governor of Virginia before becoming a U.S. senator and also ran as Hillary Clinton’s VP candidate in 2016.
Location matters
Robert Knight is a columnist for The Washington Times.
"Hung Cao is a very sharp guy, and he's very impressive and by many accounts he really won the debate with Tim Kaine. But he's behind by 10 points in most polls. Doesn't mean he can't still win. This could be a very surprising election given what's
going on in our country where people are tired of the illegal immigration and the inflation. And Hung Cao has to tie all that to Tim Kaine in order to have a chance to win."
And Knight says unfortunately there is the close proximity to Washington D.C.
"Hung Cao has a tough road ahead because there are two and a half million people living in northern Virginia that's heavily democratic out of 8.8 million in Virginia."
